


Fire Meet Gasoline

by neld13



Category: The Wayhaven Chronicles (Interactive Fiction)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Eventual Smut, F/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-15 05:42:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28808289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neld13/pseuds/neld13
Summary: What happens when you pour fuel into a fire?** Rated for future chapters. Warnings may change later on **
Relationships: Morgan/Male OC
Comments: 22
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

Tanner's eyes narrow at the town sprawled before him. What was it called again? He pulls his phone out of his pocket, checking the text message he'd received a few days ago. Wayhaven.

It's small. Smaller than he'd expected. Tiny compared to New York, where he'd been living for the past six months. How much trouble could a goblin get up to in such a small town? More importantly, how hard could he be to find?

He rubs his hands together, shoulders rolling slightly as he retracts his wings before reaching into his backpack to pull his shirt back on. He's still buttoning it when he steps out of the woods surrounding the town, eyes scanning the street from the tree line. 

Should be quick, he tells himself. Get in, find Helk - or whatever he's calling himself while in hiding - and get out. Three days, tops.

He pulls a cigarette from the pack in his bag and lights up as he steps out of the cover of the trees before shouldering the backpack again and heading down the street. Pulling his phone from his pocket again, he brings up the last known location of Helk - in an alley behind some place named Haley’s Bakery in the centre of town.

The fingers of his free hand flex before he curls them into a fist at his side as he walks along the street, ignoring the curious looks he’s getting from passers by. Small towns, he hates them. The kind where everyone knows each other and he sticks out like a sore thumb. It’s always harder than necessary for him to get information out of people in these places.

His fingers feel strange without his rings, fidgeting as his hand swings beside his hip while he walks, and as much as he wants to just get on with it and find the damn goblin that had stolen them, he knows that it’s probably wise to try and be friendly and hope that someone’s seen something strange. That would make his job infinitely easier.

It would seem he's had a stroke of luck as he stomps out his cigarette and pushes the door to the bakery open and a short, fair and friendly looking woman smiles over at him. Being good looking definitely has its advantages.

“Hey there, handsome. Take a seat and I’ll be right with you.”

She exclaims cheerily, and he glances around the homey room, obviously decorated to be more welcoming than functional. He feels as though he’s in this woman’s living room. He disregards her offer and instead walks over to lean against the counter, watching her carefully as she goes about what she’s doing. She startles a little when she turns and finds him standing there, and he shoots her a charming grin in an attempt to put her at ease.

“You’re not from around here, are you?”

She asks, the tiniest hint of suspicion in her eyes as she looks him over. He lets out a light chuckle and shakes his head.

“That obvious, is it?”

She doesn’t answer, just leans against the counter opposite him and gives him a small smile, his easy going attitude towards her obviously convincing her that he’s harmless.

“What brings you to Wayhaven?”

She asks conversationally, standing up straight again to wipe her hands off on the front of the apron she’s wearing.

“Just looking for a friend. I heard he might be in the area. Say, you might be able to help me. You haven’t seen any other obvious out of towners around in the last couple of days have you?”

She shakes her head and gives him a sympathetic smile.

“No, sorry hun. You could head on to the police station and ask around there though. The detective and the team he works with seem to always know the ins and outs of what’s going on around here before anyone else.”

Tanner tenses, his fingers twitching as he tries to avoid letting them ball into fists again. So the rumours are true. He’d heard there was a group of agents working with a detective human liaison in some tiny nothing of a town. Not ideal, to have to avoid trained agents while he’s running his own unapproved mission. He can work around them, though. They don’t even know he’s here, after all.

“Where can I find the station, gorgeous?”

She almost giggles and he struggles for a moment to keep from laughing at how easily he managed to get her on side. Hopefully the law enforcement in this town are just as easy and he won’t ever have to risk encountering the agents in the town. She draws him a small map, unnecessary considering once he examines it he finds that the station is only a couple of blocks away. He rolls his eyes once he’s out of the bakery, screwing the map up into a ball and dumping it in a trash can as he heads for the station.

\--

The man - or rather, boy - manning the front desk of the police station is so engrossed in the game he’s playing on his phone that he doesn’t even hear Tanner enter, and he leans against the counter watching him in amusement for a moment before clearing his throat loudly, making the boy jump. He hastily brushes long blonde hair out of his face and sits up straight, the phone landing loudly on the desk in front of him as he drops it.

“Uh, hello. How can I help you?”

He’s trying to appear professional, Tanner can tell. But the illusion has been shattered the second he’d stepped into the police station and he just smirks at him.

“I need to speak with the detective.”

He tries. Which detective, he doesn’t know. The boy nods and pushes himself away from the desk on his chair, leaning back to yell out across the station.

“Detective Langford!”

Tanner arches an eyebrow at the kid as he rolls himself back towards his desk and remains sitting up straight, the phone remaining untouched. Apparently this town is small enough for there to only be one detective, how tragic. Still, this detective must be a real hardass judging by the way the boy at the desk is pretending to be a real cop. Fantastic.

The man that steps out from an office in the back and comes to a stop behind the desk is not what Tanner had been expecting. Close to his own 6’3 height but scrawny - he doesn’t look as though he’d be much use in a fight. That might work to Tanner’s advantage before he finds what he came for and can take off, though.

“I’m Detective Langford, how can I help you?”

He has a soft voice, and Tanner can’t imagine it sounding in any way authoritative and he wonders if that’s the reason one of the Agency’s units has also been assigned to Wayhaven. If there’s even infrequent supernatural activity in this tiny town he doesn’t imagine that this man would be equipped to handle it.

“I’m not sure, I’m looking for a friend of mine.”

The detective raises an eyebrow, instantly untrusting of the obvious stranger in front of him.

“Your friend got a name?”

“I know him as Helk, but he may be going by something different while he’s in town.”

“Is he on the run from something?”

“Yeah.”

“What?”

“Me.”

Tanner gives a small grin which the detective does not return. Langford studies him carefully for a moment as though trying to figure out how to proceed before shaking his head.

“Even with a name I don’t think I can help you. You’re the first newcomer I’ve seen here in months.”

“You lay eyes on every occasional visitor to your town, do you?”

“Yes. I do.”

Tanner nods and pushes off of the counter, straightening himself up. The boy at the desk looks between the two of them nervously, making him think that perhaps there’s more to this detective than meets the eye. Maybe he needs to tread a little more carefully for the remainder of his time in Wayhaven. Especially if he has an Agency unit to back him up.

“Right, well thanks anyway.”

He turns to walk out of the station but Detective Langford calls out to him before he can step through the door.

“What’s your name? I’ll be sure to let any Helks that I come across know who’s looking for them.”

He’s testing him, Tanner can tell. He realises that Helk doesn’t sound like a real name - definitely not a name that anyone in a town like this would consider normal anyway - and he’s probably trying to get a more honest answer out of him.

“Tanner Drake.”

He calls over his shoulder with a grin before stepping out of the street, the smile instantly fading and his eyes narrowing as he scans the street. This is going to be harder than he’d thought.

“Where the hell are you, you little shit?”

He murmurs under his breath as he starts walking, realising that he’s going to have to find a place to stay. He didn’t want to stay in this town any longer than necessary, but it’s become obvious that it’s going to take longer than today to track Helk down, especially if he doesn’t have the assistance of the locals.

\--

Morgan shoulders her way through the door of the common room, a lit cigarette already hanging between her lips as she assumes her usual position leaning against one of the side tables in there as they wait for Lucas.

She’s not terribly fond of the man, and she despises these weekly meetings they get dragged into with him. Especially when there’s nothing happening and they usually just consist of Lucas and Nate flirting.

She’s about to lose her patience and leave, forgoing the meeting altogether when finally the detective makes his appearance, and she pulls a face at the way Nate jumps to his feet like a love sick puppy and pulls him into a hug. As though they don’t see each other everyday.

“Can we get started? Some of us have better things to do.”

She snaps, crushing her cigarette in the ashtray sitting on the table she’s leaning on. Lucas rolls his eyes and reluctantly steps away from Nate. After going through all the usual rigmarole, revealing that there’s nothing interesting to report, as Morgan had expected, she’s pulling another cigarette from her pack and getting ready to head outside when Lucas calls everyone back. She rolls her eyes with a groan and crosses her arms across her chest, her unlit cigarette still hanging from between her lips.

“I met someone strange this morning.”

Not unusual. The town is full of strange as far as Morgan is concerned. It’s unusual that Lucas didn’t know this one though, she’d thought he knew just about everyone.

“Strange in what way?”

Adam asks and Lucas shrugs slightly.

“I didn’t recognise him, he came into the station and said he was here looking for someone called Helk. He didn’t mention why.”

“Did you get a name?”

“Tanner Drake.”

Adam tenses instantly and obviously and Morgan frowns over at him.

“You know him?”

Adam doesn’t answer, his focus on Lucas.

“Can you find out where he’s staying while he’s here and report back?”

Lucas nods with uncertainty, and Adam turns to face the rest of them, his brow furrowed even deeper than usual.

“Who is he, Adam?”

Farah asks from where she’s sprawled on the couch, but Nate answers before Adam can say anything.

“Bounty hunter.”

“We need to find him and figure out what he’s doing here. If he has an assignment in Wayhaven then we should have been notified. The fact that we weren’t suggests that he’s here for personal reasons.”

Adam cuts in before Nate can say anymore, and Farah nods slowly, casting a worried glance in Morgan’s direction. Morgan just shrugs and pushes herself off of the table when it becomes apparent that the meeting is over, at least until Lucas can find out where Tanner is staying.

Adam storms through the door after Lucas, and Morgan jogs to catch up to him, plucking the cigarette from her mouth and twirling it between her fingers.

“This guy dangerous or something?”

She asks, trying to make sense of Adam’s reaction to his name.

“Not unless you’re being hunted by him.”

“So why the unease?”

She gestures to him as she asks, and he glances down at her with a heavy expression.

“He is infuriating. I hoped not to have to deal with him again.”

Morgan grins. Now it’s making sense, and she figures that anyone who can get on Adam’s nerves to such an extent has got to be an absolute riot. She finds herself mildly hopeful that she’ll get to meet him and at least have some real fun for once.

\--

Adam stares at the door inside the hotel in obvious disdain, reluctant to knock. Nate stands patiently beside him, trying to keep the amusement from his face as he waits for Adam to do something. He knows that Adam and Tanner hadn’t gotten along the last time they’d crossed paths; Nate had had a front row seat to it. Tanner is antagonising and cocky and easily as arrogant and self assured as Adam and it had led to a number of less than friendly confrontations between the two of them. He knows that Adam is hoping that he’s on a personal mission and he’ll be able to send him packing rather than needing to work with him again.

Finally Adam knocks on the door, a grimace on his face, and then lets out a heavy sigh as he waits for an answer. They hear the chain being unhooked on the other side of the door before it pulls open, Tanner’s eyes widening in surprise before a grin slowly crosses his face.

“Adam!”

He exclaims, pulling the door further open and stepping aside to let the two Agents inside.

“Commanding Agent du Mortain.”

Adam corrects in nothing short of a grumble as they walk inside and Tanner closes the door behind him.

“Never thought I’d see you again.”

“The feeling was mutual, trust me.”

Adam replies, throwing an already exhausted glance in Nate’s direction before clasping his hands behind his back. Tanner’s eyes dart towards Nate and a scowl crosses his face for a brief moment.

When they’d first met, Tanner had taken an instant dislike towards Nate and he still isn’t sure why, but he suspects that maybe they are simply too different.

“Why are you here, Drake?”

Adam asks before they can veer too far off topic but Tanner just grins at him.

“I should’ve known it was you four working with the detective. What with how much this one loves humans.”

He nods towards Nate though his gaze remains fixed on Adam, who shifts just barely under the attention.

“Why are you here?”

Adam repeats his question and Tanner sighs and tuts with a shake of his head.

“I’m sure your detective friend told you that already.”

“You are hunting for someone you call Helk.”

“Right.”

“Who is Helk and why are you looking for them?”

“A goblin, and he stole from me. I want my things back.”

“So it is not an Agency assignment? If you are not on assignment you need to return to the nearest facility. You should-”

Adam’s interrupted by his phone ringing, and he lets out an irritated sigh before moving to the other side of the room to answer it.

“What did he steal from you?”

Nate asks, trying to fill the awkward silence that falls between them once Adam steps away. Tanner looks over at him, a bored expression on his face as though he’s already tired of interacting with him, and then raises his hands in front of him.

“My rings.”

“Are they important?”

“Does it matter? They’re mine.”

“Seems like a lot of trouble to go to if they can be easily replaced.”

“No one steals from me.”

Tanner answers simply before looking away, indicating that their conversation is over and Nate knows better than to push it. He seems unassuming, even as tall and well built as he is. Tanner has a charming smile, a cheeky and playful personality for the most part, and it’s hard to imagine him taking anything or anyone seriously.

But Nate and Adam were both witness to what he is actually capable of when they worked with him years ago. He assisted them in finding a supernatural who refused to even meet with the agency to discuss signing any kind of treaty and by the time Adam had finally pulled Tanner off of him the supernatural had needed treatment in the agency’s medical facilities before he was in a position to discuss anything. Even Adam is subtly wary of the Nephilim and Nate knows it.

He is not sure what would happen should Tanner ever have an opportunity to meet Morgan and Farah. He suspects that he would get along with Farah fairly well - they have a similar sense of humour and Farah would have no desire to push his buttons and rile him up. Morgan, though. Morgan and Tanner are too similar, and Nate doesn’t imagine that she would be willing to back down just because he warns her too.

He doesn’t suspect that Tanner would be willing to hurt someone technically on his side for no good reason… but he can’t be entirely sure that he’d bother to try and hold himself back either.

Adam appears beyond displeased when he comes back over to them, tucking his phone into the pocket of his coat and letting out a heavy sigh. He turns to Nate, disappointment written all over his face.

“That was Agent Langford. She has a job for him.”

“I’m right here, you know. You could just tell me directly.”

Tanner pipes up, back to his usual cocky self now that Adam is there to buffer between him and Nate. Adam turns to him and speaks reluctantly.

“You are to come with us.”

“Back to the Warehouse?”

Nate asks incredulously, to which Adam simply gives a short nod.

“To Morgan and Farah?”

“Yes.”

“I get to meet the girls this time, excellent.”

Tanner either doesn’t notice the tension in the air at the idea of him accompanying them to the Warehouse and meeting Farah and Morgan, or he simply doesn’t care about it. Knowing what Nate knows of the Nephilim, it’s probably the latter.

“It would seem so.”

Adam answers reluctantly, then nods to the backpack sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Pack. We’ll wait for you outside.”

Tanner grins and grabs his backpack, hoisting it over one shoulder and gestures to the door.

“I never unpacked, lead the way.”

Adam groans, not even bothering to hide his unhappiness with the situation before walking out of the hotel, followed closely by Tanner as Nate musters as much positivity as he can to follow behind the both of them.

Well. This will certainly be interesting.


	2. Chapter 2

He’s acting casual, he’s acting like he doesn’t care, but the last thing Tanner wants right now is to be dragged onto an Agency mission before he’s found Helk. It’s why he hadn’t informed the Agency of what he was doing, he didn’t want the “while you’re in the area…” situation that he’s found himself in now.

And of all the Units, it has to be Bravo. It has to be Adam. If he’d been caught out by Alpha, he knows that he can get Lesedi on side enough for her to allow him to finish his personal business. But Adam is a by the book hardass, and he doesn’t particularly like Tanner. Even better would’ve been if Delta had been working in Wayhaven. As unlikely as it might seem for a bunch of demons to get along so well with a nephilim, he knows that they probably would’ve helped him find Helk before starting on their own assignment.

But no. He’s stuck with Adam and the rest of Unit Bravo. He hasn’t met the two female members of the unit, not all of them were considered necessary for the mission he’d assisted Adam and Nate with in the past, but he can’t imagine that they’d be any more fun than the two members he does know and he dreads the thought of being stuck with them all for any period of time.

“This is it.” Adam announces as they get to the end of a driveway that Tanner hadn’t noticed they were walking along, it seems like barely more than a cattle trail, and he arches an eyebrow at the building standing before them.

“You’re messing with me, aren’t you?” He asks Adam, who just frowns back at him and doesn’t seem to know how to answer.

“What are you implying?”

Tanner sighs and gives a shrug, pushing past him and Nate to get to the door.

“It’s a dump.” He mutters, knowing full well that the two vampires would’ve heard him. He hears Adam start to say something from behind him but he stops abruptly, and Tanner knows that Nate has probably stopped him and is trying to keep him from becoming too angry. It’s not a hard thing to achieve with the commanding agent.

He pushes at the doors, any hope that he’d had for the place being nicer on the inside than on the outside diminishing with every second as he takes in the dilapidated building. He turns to face them, letting them see how unimpressed he is with their residence, and Adam just huffs out a sigh as he steps past him. He swipes a card against a panel on the wall and a door opens to something that’s much more what Tanner was expecting. Maybe even a little nicer. It was obviously not Adam who was in charge of decorating the place.

“Are you satisfied?” Adam asks sharply, and Tanner smirks at him and gives a small shrug.

“That depends on what the rest of your unit is like, I suppose. I’m reserving judgement for now.”

An uneasy expression crosses Adam’s faces at the mention of the two agents that Tanner has yet to meet and he can’t help but wonder why he seems to want to keep Tanner away from them. It couldn’t possibly just be because Adam doesn’t like him.

He doesn’t have to wonder for long as Adam and Nate lead him down a hall and through a door which seems to open into some kind of common room and he lays eyes on the remaining two agents. The shorter of the two leaps up from where she’s sprawled haphazardly on a chair on the other side of the room, a wide grin on her face as she bounds over to him. She eyes him up and down before shooting a confused frown in Nate’s direction.

“He’s not what I expected.”

Tanner cocks an eyebrow at Nate, studying him harshly for a moment before turning his attention to the cheery girl in front of him. He likes her already.

“Been talking about me have you, Sewell?” He asks Nate, though his attention remains on the girl as he takes her hand in his and lifts it to his lips to kiss the back of it. She lets out a laugh as she looks in Nate’s direction briefly before pulling her hand back.

“I’m Farah.”

“Pleasure to meet you darling, I’m Tanner.” He smiles and gives a small bow before his eyes shift over to the other girl leaning against a small corner table, an unlit cigarette hanging from between her lips as she studies his and Farah’s interaction with narrowed eyes.

“So this ray of sunshine must be Morgan, am I right?”

\--

He's good looking.  _ Annoyingly  _ good looking. Morgan had at least been hoping for someone not so easy on the eyes to make it easier for her to ignore them. But  _ damn. _

Her eyes subtly roam up and down the length of his body as she watches him greet Farah. He's tall - very tall, only an inch or so shorter than Nate. Not as big as Adam but definitely not scrawny and he exudes a cocky kind of charm that she already finds herself feeling drawn to.

"So this ray of sunshine must be Morgan, am I right?" He turns dark brown eyes in her direction, studying her intently as he runs a hand through his hair before stepping over closer to her.

"If you're after a ray of sunshine you're barking up the wrong tree." She tells him dryly and one of his eyebrows quirks up slightly as a smirk slowly crawls across his lips.

"I see." He replies, amusement dripping from his tone before he turns his back on her, focusing back in on Farah.

She dislikes him already. He's full of himself and cocky and most likely bratty and as Adam had put it, infuriating. But, he's also good looking and hey, what's the harm in trying her luck?

Except that it would see the moment's passed and he's already acting like she's not even in the room. He has Farah laughing, almost hysterically and she scowls at his back for a moment before pushing herself off of the table she's leaning on and snatching her lighter up out of her pocket as she stomps outside.

\--

He notices her leave the room even though he pretends he doesn't, pretends that he's too busy talking to Farah. He knows her type, he'd known it the second he'd laid eyes on her. Grouchy, anti-social bitches who despite everything somehow think they're charming enough to get laid anyway.

It's not that he's against sleeping with her - quite the opposite actually - but he also knows how much fun it can be to string people like that along for a while before giving them a bit. The fact that the only other female in the group already seems a bit besotted with him will only make it easier to get under Morgan's skin.

He quite likes Farah so far anyway, so it shouldn't be too hard to act as though he's cosied up to her. If luck's on his side he might even manage to get her in the sack and really piss Morgan off.

"Where did Morgan go?" Farah asks after a moment, glancing around the room.

"Cigarette, I presume." Adam answers from where he's waiting on the phone, Tanner assumes he's informing the Agent he'd mentioned that they've returned. Either way he seizes the opportunity, dropping his bag onto the table beside him and retrieving his own cigarettes.

"Good idea." He gives Farah a smile and a small bow before excusing himself and heading out in the direction that Morgan had disappeared in.

He begins to follow the path that Adam and Nate had led him on to get to the common room, pausing when he hears a quiet but steady  _ bang, bang, bang.  _ Frowning he follows the source of the noise, up staircases until he reaches the door to the roof.

Morgan's sitting on the edge, smoke curling into the air in front of her and her legs dangling over the edge. Her legs are swinging, softly hitting the wall below her and providing the noise that had helped him find her.

She glances over her shoulder when the door opens and rolls her eyes before turning away again and taking another drag of her cigarette. Undeterred by her unveiled hostility, Tanner strides over and plops down next to her, lighting his own cigarette before glancing over at her.

"Those things will kill you, you know." He jokes, gesturing to the cigarette in her hand. She doesn't even scoff out half of a laugh, doesn't even look over at him as she answers.

"Alright, human."

"How dare you!?" He gasps in fake horror, pressing his free hand to his chest as though she's wounded him. It seems to pique her interest just slightly and she glances over at him.

"Are you pissed off about being human, or are you pissed off that I called you out on it?"

"I'm not human." He answers simply, looking back away from her and taking a drag of his smoke. Well  _ that  _ definitely got her attention. He's somewhat surprised that Adam and Nate haven't already told the other two agents everything about him, but it definitely explains why she'd been so outwardly dismissive of him. Some supernaturals are funny about those things.

"So what are you?" She asks, shifting to face him a little more and moving closer to him in the process. She leans towards him and wrinkles her nose before adding, "you're at least half human."

"You're a perceptive one, aren't you?" He grins down at her and she straightens back up as though only just realising how close she's gotten to him.

"I'm a nephilim." He answers after a moment, and she rolls her eyes again before they shift to meet his.

"Half breed."

"I've been called worse." He leans back into her to whisper and finally,  _ finally  _ he manages a smirk from her. More than that, she shifts her cigarette to her other hand to brush her fingers over his where his hand is resting on the roof between them.

"I bet you have, sweetheart." She murmurs before snapping her hand away, the smirk stretching into something of a grin before she looks away from him again.

Oh yeah. She wants it bad already. This is gonna be fun.

\--

The agent has already arrived by the time he and Morgan make it back down to the common room, and Tanner can't help but notice the disapproving stares both Adam and Nate cast in their direction when they step through the door. Morgan arches an eyebrow at them then looks towards him, obviously giving him a once over before turning back to them.

"We were gone for fifteen minutes, if he could be done that fast you think I'd look this happy?"

_ "This  _ is you happy?" Tanner asks incredulously before anyone else can answer, causing Farah to burst out laughing from where she's draped herself all over two of the chairs, her body slouched on one and her feet propped up on the one beside it.

"Tanner, you have no idea." She comments through her laughter, shaking her head with a grin.

"Agent Drake-" The stranger in the room tries to divert the conversation, but Tanner holds a hand up to interrupt her, only just now noticing that the detective he'd met earlier is standing beside her.

"Not an agent." He interjects, successfully masking the annoyance he feels at the title. It's not the first time someone's mistaken him for an agent, and he struggles to think of anything worse than being officially associated with the Agency. It wasn't until he'd been given a tour of a facility and seen what was in store for him if he didn't agree to work on call for them that he'd been confident in his decision to take them up on their offer. It turns out there are things worse than death after all.

"Right, Tanner." The agent corrects with a small nod. "I’m Agent Langford, this is my son and Wayhaven's detective, Lucas. He works with Unit Bravo."

"Actually, we've met." Tanner grins at him and the detective gives a stiff, forced smile in return. Agent Langford ignores the obvious tension in the room caused by Tanner's presence and continues.

"Since you are in Wayhaven without an assignment, we need you to work with Morgan to track someone down."

"What?" Morgan sputters, even Adam frowns and takes a small step towards Agent Langford.

"We don't require his assistance."

"You've been tracking him for almost three weeks and you are no closer than you were when you started. He's a bounty hunter, finding people is his job." The Agent points out, drawing a resigned sigh from Adam despite the sharp glare he throws in Tanner's direction.

"I can work with him."

"We’ll need Morgan with him when he finds him. We still believe he's working with others, we need direction from him to find the rest of them."

"I can simply-"

"Morgan is our interrogation specialist. Tanner will find him, Morgan will question him. Understood?"

Tanner watches the exchange between the two in amusement, trying not to laugh at how easily this woman can get him to back down.

"Do I get a say?" He pipes up once they fall silent, and everyone in the room glares at him. Except for Farah, who lets out a light chuckle.

"No." Agent Langford replies, pointing a finger at him as though scolding a child for eating cookies before dinner. "You took it upon yourself to travel here without permission. While you are here, you might as well make yourself useful."

"Naughty boy." Morgan drawls quietly from beside him, and he glances over to see her smirking at him. He leans down closer to her, so close that his lips just barely brush against her ear when he whispers.

"You have no idea, sunshine."

\--

Morgan can't quite put her finger on this new guy, can't tell if she wants to get into his pants or punch him in his smug face. Maybe both. Despite how good looking he is, he's arrogant and remarkably self assured for a half breed. He's a jerk, really. But charming enough to be able to get away with it and he seems fully aware of it.

He's definitely got Farah on-side already, which might make Morgan feel a little better about him usually, but Farah's friendly and sees the best in everyone. Nate's very obviously wary of him, and Adam doesn't seem to be too keen on him either. His apparent dislike of the Agency is curious as well, and she can't help but wonder what he's doing working for them if he thinks so little of them.

Beyond all of that though, she can't work out why she can't get him out of her head.

"You like him, huh?" Farah's grins at her from the doorway of her room and Morgan rolls her eyes as she sits on the edge of her bed.

"I'd probably like him better with his clothes off." She deadpans and Farah huffs out a sigh as she makes her way into the room to sit down beside Morgan.

"I think he's nice."

"Nice?"

"Yeah, funny too."

"I didn't pay that much attention to what was coming out of his mouth."

"Just, try to wait until you're done working with him before you get him into bed." Farah advises with a small sigh, patting Morgan's thigh lightly before getting to her feet again.

"I'll try. No promises, though." Morgan grins at her as she shakes her head and leaves the room.

The grin fades once she's alone again and remembers that she's the one who's going to have to work with the guy. Alone. She groans and gets to her feet, deciding to go and join Adam in the training room. She can hear the muffled thumps of him hitting the training dummies and knows that he's probably working out his own frustrations after learning that Tanner's going to be around for a while.

It's probably exactly what she needs to get the nephilim off her mind.

\--

“God dammit.” Tanner mutters to himself as he steps back into the hotel room and dumps his stuff back down on the bed, Luckily he’d decided against giving up his room just yet, and luckily he’d managed to convince Unit Bravo that he didn’t need to stay in their warehouse with them. He wants the option to skip town if needed - he doesn’t exactly fancy the idea of working with either Adam or Nate again.

The news that he’d be working mainly with Morgan had been more than welcome. Besides not needing to spend excessive amounts of time with the two male agents, Morgan was already proving to be more entertaining that he’d expected. He supposes that if he’s to be stuck in this town, there are worse ways to be stuck than having to work with a hot and obviously eager vampire.

Plus he really doesn’t want to piss the Agency off too much and wind up being imprisoned by them. He’s to go back to the warehouse in the morning for details of the person he needs to find. So he’ll find them for Unit Bravo (perhaps have a little fun with Morgan while he’s at it), then find Helk and get his rings back and then be gone. Probably to an Agency facility far away from here so that he doesn’t get roped into another mission with bloody Bravo.

But he can do this, it shouldn’t take too long just because it’s taken three weeks for a bunch of vampires to get nowhere. Vampires are incredibly efficient when they know exactly what they’re after. They can follow scents, sounds, even feelings sometimes once they’ve already met the person they need to find.  _ Useless  _ though when it’s an unknown. What’s taken them three weeks to get nowhere on should take Tanner no more than a couple of days, then once he has the supernatural in his grasp he can turn them over to the unit and then wipe his hands of the entire situation and do what he came here for.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> random upload time because it's been 2 weeks since i last updated, so you get a bonus!

"Demons?"

"Yes."

"Do I have to?"

"Of course you have to."

Tanner groans and slouches further down in the chair he's seated in, lifting a hand and running it over his face.

"I feel you, I don't like them either," Farah pats his shoulder sympathetically and he frowns over at her.

"Really? I've gotten along with every demon I've ever met."

"Typical." Adam scoffs under his breath in a rare attempt at sarcasm, and Tanner just grins at him before noticing that his revelation has made Farah shift uncomfortably in her seat beside him.

"Aren't you an angel?" she asks hesitantly and he raises an eyebrow at her.

"Do I look like an angel to you?"

"I… don't know. I just thought-"

"My Dad's an angel. It's not a spectrum, you either are one or you're not. I'm not," he snaps at her, a little harsher than intended.

He despises being rounded up to angel status almost as much as he despises being mistaken for an agent. If he were an angel he'd be immortal, which the scarring on his side proves that he is very much not. If he and his sister had been angels, she would still be here and he wouldn't be working for this pathetic attempt at a so-called supernatural "protection" agency.

"You don't have to be a dick about it," Morgan scolds him from where she's leaning on the table beside Farah.

He slowly turns his attention to her and smirks, "if I could make it through my day without it, I would."

"If you're finished," Adam interjects, looking between the three of them in exasperation as they fall quiet. "you have been granted access to all of our files on the group."

Tanner eyes the file folders that Adam gestures to on the table and lets out another groan. "Still with the paper filing system, you guys?"

He snatches the files up and gets to his feet without waiting for an answer. He hears Adam telling Morgan to go with him as he turns and walks out of the room and he glances down at her when she falls into step beside him.

"What's your problem with going after demons?" she asks as they step outside.

"I like demons. I don't want to have to hurt one."

"You think you'd stand a chance against a demon, nephilim?"

He raises his eyebrows at her before looking away without answering and they continue their walk along the warehouse driveway back to town and his hotel room in silence.

He _knows_ that he stands a chance against them, because he’s done it before. He’s had to hold his own against several of them, every time just doing his job and every time hating it somewhere deep down. Sometimes he wishes that the wendigo had taken him out, that he hadn’t done so well in his altercation with him so as to gain the attention of the Agency. The Agency that had bluntly disregarded the fact that at one point he hated hurting people. The Agency that had shoved “do whatever it takes” down his throat until he did as he was told without a second thought or a moment of hesitation. The Agency that had erased any of the humanity still residing in him and had reduced him to this thing that had no qualms about hurting anyone anymore. As soon as the need for it arises now he acts without thinking, without any consideration for who he’s rendering helpless if they resist and won’t accompany him back to the nearest facility willingly.

The Agency that has turned him into someone who can no longer stand being underestimated and feels the need to prove himself whenever his abilities are questioned. People hear angel and don't bother pushing any further, they just assume he's a pussy who'd rather use his words than his fists. It used to be an accurate assumption, he supposes. But nowadays he gets a sick rush out of proving them wrong, barely able to remember the man he used to be before the Agency got their hands on him.

"You know I think you were supposed to just go over these at the warehouse." Morgan points out after a while, gesturing to the files under his arm.

"I prefer my own space," he answers shortly.

"There's definitely advantages to the two of us having a bit of privacy," she agrees, and he glances over to see her smirking at him.

He fucking _knew_ it. She wants him, not that it's a surprise. He lets his eyes run down the length of her body before returning them up to hers. "Don't flatter yourself."

He could burst out laughing at the look on her face in response to his blatant rejection but he manages to keep a hold of himself. She obviously doesn't get knocked back often.

“In fact you could probably just go back if you want,” he adds, pushing his luck just a little further, testing the waters and seeing how much he’ll get away with before she takes him up on his offer and leaves him alone. To his surprise she shakes her head and lights up a cigarette.

“Adam told me to come with you.”

“And you always do what he says?” he swipes a cigarette from her packet before she can put it away and snatches the cigarette from between her lips, lighting his from the end of it before placing it back between them, deliberately ignoring the outrage written all over her face.

“He’s my commanding agent,” she answers, seemingly unsure how to react to his boldness with stealing her cigarette. 

“And you’re a good girl, got it,” he gives a short nod as they approach the hotel, and she scoffs behind him as he leads her to his room.

“I can be bad enough when I need to be,” she replies indignantly after a moment and he can’t help the slight chuckle that escapes him.

“I’ll take your word for it.” He can’t tell if she’s scowling or if her face is twisted up with confusion and he doesn’t even bother trying to work out which one as he pushes the door open and holds it for her, the way he’s standing giving need for her to brush against him as she slowly steps past him into the room.

“I didn’t figure you were an open the door for ladies type.”

“I didn’t figure you were a lady,” he throws back without missing a beat, and this time she’s _definitely_ scowling at him as he steps in behind her and closes the door.

\--

She hates him, she decides. She’s leaning on the edge of the small desk by the window of the cheap hotel room, close enough for his arm to brush against her thigh every time he moves on the chair to reach for a new sheet of paper out of the file. Not so close that he can’t avoid doing it though so it’s definitely on purpose.

And damn her obnoxious hypersensitivity because every time he does she can’t shake how nice it feels, even through the sleeves of his jacket and the thick material of her jeans. Probably just because she’d been fairly confident in being able to get him naked within half an hour of being back at his room and the fact that he hasn’t fallen for her charms is throwing her, so the slight contact is a welcome relief that at least he doesn’t seem to have anything against physical contact with her.

Eventually he groans and drops the file he’s holding onto the desk loudly, resting his elbows on the top of it and running his fingers through his hair, massaging his temples for a few seconds before looking up at her.

“I know where he is,” he states, and she snaps her gaze down to him in surprise, having expected him to say that he’s over it for the day instead.

“What?”

“I know where he is,” he repeats, as though no further explanation is needed.

“Where is he then?”

Tanner leans to the side, unnecessarily coiling his arm around her waist to reach the paper map that she’d sat just behind her when she was finished going over it earlier. He’s keeping a straight face, but the smile in his eyes is beyond obvious as he holds eye contact with her, his hand slowly and lightly dragging around her midsection as he does so before grabbing the map and then sitting straight in his seat again.

She definitely hates him.

He spreads the map out on the desk, just about smacking her on the backside as he does so and she pushes herself off of the edge with a huff and stands behind him instead, leaning down over him with her hand splayed on the desk beside his, their pinky fingers touching just barely. He doesn’t move his hand, and she can’t help but wonder what kind of game he’s playing; seemingly going out of his way to graze her with the briefest of touches and yet not being willing to actually touch her properly.

She sternly instructs herself to focus on the map as he points to a spot at the edge of town, worryingly close to the warehouse. “Here.”

“We’ve looked there.”

“In the sewers?”

“Yeah,” she frowns in confusion and he rolls his head back to look up at her, a disbelieving expression on his face.

“All the way into the sewers?”

“Mostly.”

“So no,” he rolls his eyes and looks back down at the map. “Just figured your spidey senses would make it easy for you to tell if he was down there, huh?”

“Our what?”

“Sense of smell.”

“Demons reek. We would’ve smelt them from miles away.”

“It’s a sewer.”

“And?”

“You know what else reeks?” he pauses, though it’s obvious the question is rhetorical and the pause is simply for dramatic affect, “shit.”

“You wanna just tell me what you’re thinking or you wanna be a dick about it for the rest of the day?”

He looks up at her again with a grin this time and his pinky finger taps at the map, brushing against hers as it does. “It’s even more fun getting you worked up than I expected it to be.”

“Maybe if you were working me up properly I’d agree but this is just annoying.”

He laughs and looks back down at the map, ignoring her innuendo again jabbing his finger at the sewers again. “This is where he is,” his finger slides out to indicate a few shops on the edge of town near the entrance to the sewers, “this is where he’s been seen, there’s nowhere else nearby that would allow him to disappear like he does.”

“Let’s go then if you’re so sure,” she straightens up and takes a step away from him towards the door, but he stays where he is, tutting and shaking his head.

“My guess is that he only comes out in the open right before the sewers get… busy,” he calls to her before she can leave.

“Busy?”

“Typically most people are showering or doing their, you know - business - between six and seven in the morning.” he pauses and she steps back over to him, watching as he runs a finger along the faint grey line on the map indicating the location of the pipes. “There’s a spot in here somewhere that’s safe for him to hide in for the duration and probably until about four, five o’clock the next morning. Right before the sewers get the most use and can cover his scent from supernaturals that may be searching for him. Like say, vampires.”

“So what are you saying?”

“I’m saying you can go off half cocked right now and try your luck at locating him with all those other smells covering him, or you can wait and come with me in the morning when he’s likely to be heading back into hiding for the day and catch him before he even makes it to the sewers. Right out in the open, piece of cake.”

“And you’re sure he’ll be there?”

“Ninety-five percent.”

“And the other five?”

“Will mean that I’ve fucked up and you have my full permission to punish me before we find where else he could be,” he grins over his shoulder at her and she rolls her eyes despite the images flooding her mind of all the ways she can think of to punish him.

“Fine. In the morning then,” she turns to walk out of the door.

“It’s a date. I’ll pick you up at three thirty.”

He’s still grinning at her, and the shit eating grin combined with his choice of words grates on her nerves, as does how attractive she’s still finding him despite his cockiness and mocking.

“A date with you to the sewers, sounds about right,” she retorts but then hesitates for a second before leaving to add “could be easier if you just came back with me and stayed the night at the warehouse.”

“Are you inviting me to spend the night with you, Agent?”

“No. I’m inviting you to spend a few hours with me and then fuck off to your own bed at the warehouse.”

He seems to be considering it for a moment, his grin fading and leaving him staring at her thoughtfully before he answers. “Pass.”

She _really_ fucking hates him.

\--

Adam’s waiting for her when she arrives back at the warehouse, a displeased expression on his face and his arms crossed over his chest.

“You went back to his room with him?”

“He said he wanted his own space to work.”

“To work?” Disbelief is written all over his face even without the one eyebrow arched at her and the way he looks her up and down as though searching for evidence that they did more than work.

“Yes, work.”

“And did you find him?”

“Tanner thinks he’s worked it out. We’re checking a location out in the morning.”

“Good,” Adam answers with a short nod, giving her another quick once over before turning and leaving her alone.

His concern is unnecessary seeing as though Tanner has no interest whatsoever in sleeping with her. He’s shown more interest in Farah so far, which bothers Morgan for several reasons. Lucas was the last person she’d come onto and been rejected by, though now she feels that she dodged a bullet and counts the rejection as more of a success.

Tanner doesn’t strike her as someone who’d be especially picky though, and it confuses her that his rejection is so blunt and leaves no room for interpretation, yet he keeps flirting back with her before doing it. The back and forth is making it difficult for her to shake him from her thoughts, and she doesn’t like it. On top of that, she doesn’t like the idea of him and Farah hooking up.

She’s fairly certain that he’s not Farah’s type, but she also knows that Farah can sometimes be slightly gullible when it comes to seeing the best side of people, and the way Tanner seems to be able to turn his charm on might actually work on her.

Which wouldn’t be a problem. It’s not as though she’s jealous. But she has a feeling that someone like Tanner could destroy someone like Farah, and _that_ she is _not_ okay with.

\--

He _likes_ her, dammit.

It’s unexpected, but not so unexpected that Tanner doesn’t feel it already creeping up on him after spending only one afternoon with her. He’d liked the look of her the second he’d laid eyes on her, but it’s already more than that now and it had somehow made it surprisingly easy to knock back her offer of going back to the warehouse with her.

He can’t like her. Or at least, he can’t let anyone know that he likes her - least of all Morgan herself. He’s no good for people that he actually likes, no good at caring about people and showing it in a normal and healthy way. It’s not like he’s never developed feelings for people before, there’s been a twinge here and there but he’s always managed to put a stop to it before it got too far and he did something stupid like telling them or showing them or going out of his way to _take care_ of their problems for them.

It’s going to be more difficult with Morgan, being that he needs to work with her. The only way he can see that he’s going to be able to nip this in the bud is to find this demon as quickly as possible so that Morgan can get her answers out of him and the rest of the mission can be left up to Unit Bravo. If not for him still needing to find Helk, Tanner would probably be getting ready to leave Wayhaven right now without ever helping them, but he needs to stick around long enough to get his rings back and he won’t get away with staying in the same town as them without running into them at some stage. Bailing out early would also bring with it the almost certain risk of the Agency catching up with him eventually and locking him up - no doubt throwing away the key. He’s hardly been a model employee for all these years, he guesses that there are plenty of people in power associated with the Agency who’d love to see the end of him and would jump at the chance to make it happen.

But fuck it all, he _really_ likes her.

So much so that even now as he’s going over what they need to do in the morning in his mind, his thoughts keep reminding him that he’s going to be with her the whole time. Maybe the only way around it is to cave to her and let her fuck him out of her system. Then she would no longer be interested and whether or not he likes her and can stop himself from liking her anymore would be a moot point. He might be a jerk, but he’s not that big of a jerk that he’d relentlessly pursue something that someone is clearly not interested in.

He falls asleep still involuntarily thinking about her, and unsurprisingly she already makes it into his dreams for the first time. Not the kind of dream he’d enjoy having about her though. It starts that way, but quickly turns into more of a nightmare, memories of his sister and her boyfriend and what Tanner had done to him after what he had done to his sister swirling together with thoughts about Morgan and the things likely to happen to her if he was to let his feelings get the better of him and make him throw caution to the wind, until it becomes something that jolts him awake, drenched in sweat and breathing heavily, rapidly opening his eyes and then squeezing them closed again to try and shake the images from his mind.

 _And that’s why you_ can’t _like her,_ he reminds himself as he resigns himself to spending the rest of the night wide awake and worrying about what he’s gotten himself into.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tags have been updated! please make sure you check them before continuing.

She'd expected him to dress down a little, seeing that they are likely venturing into a sewer this morning. But all that's missing is his jacket; he's still wearing his usual long sleeve dress shirt and vest though his sleeves have been partially folded back, revealing the smallest glimpse of a tattoo on the outside of his right forearm.

"You know you're probably going to get covered in crap, right?"

"Wrong. But if you want to keep doubting me, go right ahead," he grins an obnoxiously cocky grin at her before turning and heading around the warehouse towards the sewers.

It’s the darkest part of morning, the soft glow of sunlight only just beginning to peek over the horizon and she’s grateful that she doesn’t need light to see where she’s going, because if she did she’d be about screwed. Surprisingly, Tanner doesn’t seem to need it either. Whether it’s because he has above average eyesight himself or if he’s just used to reading the environment around him she’s not sure, but she guesses it's the latter. He has to be at least somewhat perceptive to be good enough at finding people to have caught the Agency’s attention. And as far as she knows, nephilims don’t possess any especially advanced abilities beyond their strength and speed.

She reluctantly falls into step beside him, the tattoo on his arm catching her attention again as they walk.

"What's that?" she asks eventually, curiosity getting the better of her.

"A tattoo," he deadpans.

"I'd worked that much out."

"You asked," he gives a shrug and she waits for him to say more, but apparently he's done talking.

"So one of your parents was an angel, right?"

He frowns over at her, "I didn't realise we were taking part in a team bonding exercise."

"Forget it, I'm not that interested," she doesn't even know why she has questions in the first place, let alone why she's bothering to ask them. Probably she just wants to know who she's venturing into the sewers with.

He lets out a sigh and she sees him cast a sideways glance at her. "My Dad."

"So do you have wings or something?"

"I do," he answers distractedly, his focus clearly on their surroundings rather than her.

"Really?"

"Do you have fangs?" he snaps at her, and she rolls her eyes. Fine. He doesn't want to talk, then they won't talk.

It doesn't take them long to reach the sewers, making it less plausible in her eyes that they're going to find anyone here. If there was a demon hanging around so close to them, they would've caught its scent by now.

His hand shoots out to get a tight grip on her arm as she starts to step out of the trees and he yanks her backwards roughly, making her stumble back against him. His arms wrap around her waist from behind both to steady her and hold her still, and when he leans down to shush her right against her ear a shiver runs up and down her spine.

She does as he says though, staying perfect still and quiet and definitely _not_ thinking about how his arms feel around her or how the steady beat of his heart against her back makes her realise that he's having a _far_ bigger effect on her than she is on him.

She's just about to ask him what they're waiting for when he lifts one arm and points in the direction of the main part of town where, sure enough, a tall, scrawny and scruffy looking man is skulking towards the sewer entrance.

"Told you so," his whisper is laced with a very subtle hint of sing song mocking, his chin just about resting on her shoulder for a moment before he lets go of her and steps away.

"Alright so what's…" she trails off as he steps out of the trees and walks straight towards the guy, throwing her arms out to the sides in exasperation as she finishes her sentence to herself, "the plan?"

She watches as Tanner strolls towards the alleged demon, who looks at him in confusion for a moment before recognition dawns on his face and he tries to make a run for it. Morgan readies herself to give chase, but Tanner's too fast anyway and wraps an arm tightly around his shoulders to keep him by his side as he walks him over to her.

His hand shifts to the back of the demon's neck, holding on so tight that Morgan can see his fingers digging into the skin. He pushes him towards her as though holding a stuffed animal out for her to inspect and raises an eyebrow. "Well? Ask your questions, we don't have all day."

"Don't we?"

"Well I don’t know about you, but _I_ don’t have all day."

She scowls at him before returning her attention back to the demon.

“You’re working with a group of people, who and where are they?”

He just sneers at her before spitting at her feet, and Tanner lifts his free hand to smack him across the back of the head.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’m not working with anyone.”

“You’re lying,” she glances at Tanner, who whacks him again before letting go of the back of his neck and taking hold of his wrists, holding them tightly behind the demon’s back.

“I’d tell her the truth if I were you,” he says in a low voice, and the demon scoffs and looks over his shoulder at him.

“I’ve heard about you. Heard that you don't play nice with others," he glances pointedly at Morgan, but Tanner just chuckles.

"Neither does she, so imagine how pissed off we both are already."

“Just cut the crap and tell me why you’re here,” Morgan butts in, and the demon glares back over at her.

“Why don’t you make me, little girl?”

Morgan huffs and steps closer, wrapping a hand around the demon’s neck while Tanner keeps his hands restrained behind him. She stares at him for a moment, a frown of concentration on her face before speaking again. “What do you want in Wayhaven?”

The demon sputters for a moment before answering, “word’s gotten ‘round about a human here, their blood can boost supernatural’s abilities.”

“How many of you are there?"

“Look, I’m just a scout, alright? I’ve only met with one other guy but I assume there’s a whole bunch of them.” Morgan glances up at Tanner with a frown, who just looks back at her with complete disinterest and shrugs.

“Who’s the one other guy you’ve met and where can we find him?”

“I only know him by Axle, he’s usually hanging out in a bar in the city.” Her hopes to be done with this mission and Tanner as quickly as possible instantly fade away, and judging by the look on his face, Tanner feels exactly the same way as they realise simultaneously that this means they’re going to have to travel to the city together.

“What bar?”

“Shakers.” Tanner sighs and releases the demon’s hands, and the guy slaps Morgan’s hand away from his neck and glares between them, rubbing at his sore wrists. “We done here?”

Morgan doesn’t answer, just waves a hand dismissively, her gaze focused on Tanner as the demon turns and jogs away from them, disappearing into the sewers.

“You know what this means, right?” she asks, and he rolls his eyes before turning and stalking back in the direction of the warehouse.

“Yeah, yeah,” he mutters in response.

\--

Well. This is _beyond_ irritating and quite frankly Tanner isn't finding it entertaining in the slightest anymore. He moodily trudges along beside Morgan, flexing his hands and then clenching them into fists over and over and glaring at nothing in particular and going over in his mind how he's going to track down Helk now so that he can get the hell out of here and the hell away from Unit Bravo.

“Well?” Adam asks before they’ve even made it all the way into the common room where the rest of the vampires are waiting for them when they return.

“We got a vague name and a vague location somewhere in the city,” Morgan answers, taking up her usual spot in the shadowed corner and leaning against the small table there.

“So when do you leave?”

“Uh, excuse me, what?” Tanner cuts in before Morgan can answer, and Adam turns to frown at him. “I’m not going into the city with her.”

“Yes. You are,” Adam turns away from him to address the rest of the group but Tanner steps forward, irritation taking over him. He sees Farah’s eyes widen when he places a hand on Adam’s shoulder and turns him towards him again. Adam’s eyes narrow and he pointedly looks down at Tanner’s hand on his shoulder before turning his harsh gaze up to his face.

“You’re not my commanding agent.”

“You were assigned to work with us, so at the moment I am.”

“I did what I was assigned to do.”

Adam finally shrugs his hand off of him when it becomes obvious that Tanner’s not going to move it himself. “You were assigned to assist Morgan in finding this group. You have found one person and a possible location of another.”

Tanner glares at him, his fingers fidgeting at his sides as he considers the repercussions of telling Adam to shove it up his ass and leaving anyway, but decides that the risk of being caught and disciplined by the Agency are too great.

“I guess we’re leaving now, then,” he huffs in obvious annoyance, starting out of the room before turning to raise an eyebrow at Morgan. “You coming?”

She glances at Adam who gives a single nod and she sighs loudly before pushing herself off of the table and following Tanner out the door.

“I gotta make a quick stop before we leave town,” he tells her moodily as he stalks through the halls and out of the warehouse, and Morgan jogs to catch up with him and catches his arm to stop him. It doesn’t work, but he does slow down a little and glance over at her.

“Adam’s not gonna be happy if he finds out you’re running personal errands on a mission.”

“Adam’s never happy,” he answers bluntly, shaking her hand off of his arm.

It’s not ideal, but he can make this work for him. If he’s going to be forced to work with a vampire then he might as well get some use out of her. She can help him find Helk before they leave for the city, because there’s not a hope in hell that he’s leaving this sad little town without the things he came here for in the first place.

“You still after this goblin or whatever?”

“Yes.”

“Why so eager to find him?”

“Because he has my rings and I need them back.”

She’s quiet for a moment before replying, “what’s so special about them?”

He turns to face her with what’s almost a low growl, narrowing his eyes at her. “They’re mine.”

“Yeah, but do they do anything?”

“Two of them do,” he’s growing increasingly annoyed with the relentless questioning.

“And the rest?”

“The rest are none of your fucking business.”

“I think if you’re planning on roping me into helping you get them back then it kind of is my business.”

He rolls his eyes and starts walking again, not bothering to check if she’s following before calling back over his shoulder, “no one’s making you hang about, sunshine.”

It takes a minute but he hears her jogging again to catch back up with him, and he glances over at her when she falls back into step beside him. “Do you have any ideas where he is?”

“I think so.”

“Then let’s get it over with so we can get back to work.”

He doesn’t reply, a little surprised that she’s agreed to help him so easily but mostly because he doesn’t want to appear too grateful for her agreement. She already knows that he wants them back, she doesn’t need to know how desperately.

\--

Even she can barely keep up with how efficiently he can get information out of people and how quickly he can put the pieces together and work out exactly where someone is. It’s actually quite impressive, not that she’d ever tell him that.

She spends the rest of the morning tailing him, watching him work his charms on several of the shopkeepers and workers of Wayhaven, getting snippets of information from each of them about a strange man that none of them recognise wandering about town, until they make it to their last stop; a jewellery store at the end of the main street.

Apparently a “funny looking little man” who had introduced himself as Bill had been here only an hour before them, claiming that he had some rings for sale and had gone home to retrieve them and bring them back to be valued.

“Maybe he has something closer to what we’re looking for, darling,” it takes her a moment to realise that he’s talking to her, and she blinks up at him while he watches her expectantly. After a few seconds he gives up and subtly rolls his eyes at her. “Come on, we’ll have a look around while we wait.”

She tenses when he slings an arm over her shoulders and leads her away from the cashier and to the other side of the store, glancing over his shoulder before moving behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist to lean down closer to her ear.

“Thought you’d be better at role play than this,” he murmurs, and she slaps at his hands until he lets go of her.

“I’m better at it when I know it’s coming. What, you’re just gonna wait here for him?”

“Yep.”

Before she can launch into a speech about how stupid his plan is, the bell at the door rings and she looks over to see a small and dreadfully _ugly_ man walk into the store holding a small black velvet bag.

“Is that him?” Tanner asks her, giving her an irritating ‘told you so’ smirk and she shrugs.

“How the hell am I supposed to know?” She turns to face Tanner, her eyes on the man as he suddenly turns and looks at them, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. “He’s watching us.”

Tanner lets out a barely audible but obviously frustrated groan before pushing her away from him and spinning around.

“Bill, is it?” There’s no small amount of sarcasm in his voice, and the goblin’s eyes widen as he almost drops the small bag that he’s holding.

“Tanner!” he exclaims, slowly starting to back up towards the door.

“I believe you have some things of mine in there,” Tanner gestures to the bag but barely makes it one step closer to him before who is now obviously Helk turns tail and takes off out the door and down the street.

“Oh for fuck sake,” Tanner mutters before starting out after him, but before he even makes it onto the street Morgan is chasing after him on her own, and by the time Tanner gets outside she’s got a hold of the goblin’s arm and is leaning against the wall waiting for him.

Tanner grins at her and gives a nod of appreciation as he calmly walks over to them and holds his hand out. “My rings?”

“I- um. I was gonna give the important ones back, I swear.”

“They’re all important.”

“I thought there was only those two that-”

“You thought wrong, now give them back.” Tanner cuts in, and Morgan wonders what the two in question are actually for and why this goblin seems to know about it while Tanner refuses to tell her.

“You don’t get it, I need the money.”

“No, _you_ don’t get it, so let me make it clear to you. I will break a finger for every minute that goes by without you giving them back to me. Starting now.”

“Tanner, wait,” she protests. Adam will not be pleased if he finds out they’ve injured someone for personal reasons. His gaze snaps up towards her and he nods down the street.

“You don’t like it, go and wait around the corner,” he snatches the goblins arm away from her and gives him a smile which - under a different circumstance - could be considered friendly before taking his hand in both of his and bending his pointer finger backwards.

“You should listen to your girlfriend, half-breed,” the goblin taunts, giving him a smirk and a wave of anger crashes over Morgan. She narrows her eyes and comes to stand beside Tanner, taking Helk’s other hand in hers.

“You want us to break two at a time?” she ignores the way Tanner glances over at her, something other than arrogance or annoyance on his face for once - maybe he even looks a little impressed with her - and keeps her gaze on the goblin.

“Alright, alright,” Helk snatches his hand away from her and digs into his pocket for the bag, pushing it into Tanner’s chest and shaking his hands when he gets them free. “Jeez, didn’t take you for such a sentimental little thing.”

“You want me to break your fucking hand anyway? Piss off.” Tanner spits at him, and the goblin glances between them hesitantly for a moment before turning and taking off down the street.

“So can we get going now?” Morgan asks and he gives a distracted nod, though it doesn’t really seem like he’s even heard her as he opens the bag and empties its contents into his palm. A small sigh of relief escapes him as he slides the rings back onto his fingers, pausing at a small and delicate looking silver band and closing his eyes for a moment before slipping it onto his pinky finger.

She decides against asking what the deal is with that ring in particular, she doesn’t care enough to be willing to deal with his attitude about it again.

“Yeah, lets go,” he finally answers, holding his hands out and looking at them with a satisfied nod before turning his attention to her. “We driving or are you just gonna run there?”

“I’m not getting in a car with you,” she retorts, and he shrugs and hands her a small scrap of paper with an address written on it before turning and walking back towards the tree line, unbuttoning his shirt as he goes.

“Why the fuck would I drive if I don’t need to? Meet me there.” he calls over his shoulder, shrugging his shirt off and glancing around him carefully before a massive pair of light grey wings extend from the centre of his back and he’s gone.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Thoughts, feelings, concerns? Good or bad, you can find me on Tumblr @crackerdumortain and my inbox is always open!


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